When Tennessee first baseman Luc Lipcius was a freshman for the Volunteers in 2017, Dave Serrano was the coach and the team went 27-25 overall and 7-21 in Southeastern Conference play.
On Monday afternoon, roughly 18 hours after Tennessee improved to 53-7 by downing Florida 8-5 in the Southeastern Conference tournament championship game, Tony Vitello's Vols were awarded the top overall seed in the upcoming NCAA tourney. Tennessee's 53 victories are the most ever for an SEC team heading into NCAA play.
"When I came in here, we weren't really expected to do much," Lipcius said after the Vols claimed their first league tournament since 1995. "We were kind of the laughingstock of the SEC. Then Coach V and his staff came in and did their thing. They're great at recruiting and making players better. That's one big thing that they preach - just get better - and it's really awesome to see it come full circle.
"We still have a ways to go, but it's really cool."
Lipcius is in his sixth season at Tennessee due to a medical redshirt he received in 2019 and his decision to use the NCAA's extra year of eligibility implemented at the outbreak of the coronavirus. The 24-year-old earned his Aerospace Engineering degree last May.
Tennessee will open NCAA competition Friday against fourth-seeded Alabama State (34-23) in the Knoxville Regional, which also contains second-seeded Georgia Tech (34-22) and third-seeded Campbell (40-17). The matchup between Georgia Tech and Campbell will be Friday at noon on ESPN+, while the Tennessee-Alabama State contest will be at 6 on the SEC Network.
The Knoxville Regional winner will take on the winner of the Statesboro Regional comprised of 16th overall seed Georgia Southern, Notre Dame, Texas Tech and UNC Greensboro in one of the eight super regionals.
Vitello spoke Sunday night about shifting from a rare SEC tournament title to the NCAA's 64-team extravaganza.
"You want accomplishments, and that can be just going in the cage and getting a little better with your swing," Vitello said. "This just happens to be on a bigger stage, but there have been plenty of big wins and big moments throughout the year that we have been able to take confidence from. When things don't go your way, you can be more determined to do better the next go-around, or you can be frustrated and let it sink you.
"Fortunately, we've got a bunch of guys with a high level of determination."
Tennessee was joined among the top eight seeds by Stanford (41-14), Oregon State (44-15), Virginia Tech (41-12), Texas A&M (37-18), Miami (39-18), Oklahoma State (39-20) and East Carolina (42-18). Florida and Auburn were seeded 13th and 14th, respectively, giving the Gators (39-22) and Tigers (37-19) the chance to stay at home as well this weekend.
Five more SEC teams - Arkansas (38-18), Georgia (35-21), LSU (38-20), Ole Miss (32-22) and Vanderbilt (36-21) - will be travelling for regional play. Ole Miss was the last team selected.
Missing out from the SEC were Alabama and Kentucky, whose ability to collect multiple victories at the league tournament could not overcome winning just 12 conference games during the regular season.
The NCAA tournament reveal was held on ESPN2, which ended its broadcast by posing a "Tennessee versus the field" question. The media-friendly Vitello was not on the telecast, having turned the page from the convincing weekend in Hoover, Alabama.
"I don't feel like we've gassed anybody out or went to an extreme with the guys, so I feel good about all that," Vitello said Sunday night. "The only guy would be (catcher) Evan Russell, who was kind of joking that he didn't have anything left in the tank. Once he gets a couple of days to rest up, I will feel good about where they're all at.
"The key is to get back to a normal schedule, because this schedule was a little crazy. This time of year it ain't gonna be comfortable or ideal, so you've got to adjust to it."
Lipcius added that this year's Vols aren't about "championship hangovers," saying, "When we're back to Knoxville, it's grind time."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.